Adam Lyth, Tom Kohler-Cadmore fall just shy of centuries on even day in Leeds

David Hopps03-Jun-2019This is where it’s at, baby: Yorkshire and Essex duking it for supremacy. Not quite how Sir Neville Cardus would have put it, admittedly, but when the World Cup is in full flow, and England are involved in a troubled run chase, the Championship needs to go full-on Iggy Pop, the grandfather of punk, to grab even a tiny share of attention.While the World Cup understandably dominates attention over the next month or so, the Championship will take shape. Surely Somerset will never have a better chance of winning county cricket’s premier tournament for the first time than this year. As for Yorkshire and Essex, they are still not sure what their seasons will deliver. The next three days will reveal much. The winner, if there is to be one, may be pleasantly surprised by their lofty position come Thursday evening.An even first day has left us none the wiser about which side might prosper. Yorkshire were dominant just after tea at 224 for 2 with the prospect of hundreds for both Adam Lyth and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, but Simon Harmer’s tightly-engineered off-spin held Essex together, as it must, and neither hundred materialised as Yorkshire lost four wickets for 28 in 13 overs and they came to rest at 289 for 6.David Willey, omitted from England’s World Cup squad, was one of those wickets, leg before as he propped forward at Harmer. It’s fair to say that as he walked off you would not have been tempted to bottle the air around him and sell it as a Happiness Potion.Headingley’s World Cup matches are still to come, of course, and they will be enhanced by the magnificent new Emerald Stand, which will remain empty for this match while a few final touches are carried out but which gleams virginal white between the cricket and rugby sections of the ground. The decrepit old stand where the sun never dared intrude has been replaced by something more uplifting. People may even be caught smiling.It is a grand development – £43m worth, of which Yorkshire’s share was £18m – and brings a sense of beauty to a ground that once upon a time only admired beauty in a Geoffrey Boycott defensive push, Fred Trueman’s outswinger or Brian Close’s bruised forehead and where most of the cognoscenti would have probably dismissed Keats’ Grecian Urn as something you couldn’t rightly sup out of.But their Lust for Life, as Iggy once put it, centres proudly around the County Championship and there was much to sharpen their interest: a debutant batsman, and from Huddersfield, too; signs in Kohler-Cadmore’s 83 that has game is maturing nicely; a condemnatory statistic about Yorkshire opening stands that just will not go away; and an Essex wicketkeeping crisis, not that they would admit to being too interested in that.The debutant opener was Will Fraine, who moved from Nottinghamshire in the middle of last season, and whose father is a senior figure in an ice cream company that is one of Yorkshire’s major sponsors. His 39 from 69 balls was not quite the indulgence promised by the Idaho Valley Mint flavour, but was a sober affair, prospering largely through learned steers through backward point, head determinedly over ball, enough to satisfy the members on first sight. Sam Cook brought one back to bowl him through the gate.Fraine is the latest player to try to address some very un-Yorkshire shortcomings at the top of the order. According to the Yorkshire specialist Graham Hardcastle, it is 20 matches since they have managed a hundred stand for the first wicket in first-class cricket when Shaun Marsh and Kohler-Cadmore did so against Surrey at The Kia Oval; there again, they were responding to 529.The fact that such a skilful player as Lyth has routinely been one of those openers makes it an even more unlikely statistic. Lyth did his share of playing and missing in making 95, but otherwise had few alarms, his most uncertain moment perhaps coming on 17 when he edged Cook just in front of second slip.Lyth was also involved in the run out of Gary Ballance, who is searching for a century in six successive Yorkshire matches. Len Hutton once made a hundred for Yorkshire in seven successive matches, although that sequence was interrupted by England calls. It was an avoidable run out, a casual first run being followed by joint uncertainty over the second, Sam Cook’s throw from square leg doing the rest.Lyth could barely have succumbed more to self-blame had he walked home in bare feet wearing a placard saying ‘Stone Me’. “It was my fault,” he said. “It’s not great when you run the best batsman in the country out. I can’t honestly tell you how awful it felt. I can’t apologise enough. He said he would forgive me if I got 150 so he hasn’t forgiven me.”England might only have eyes for the World Cup at the moment, but the Ashes will soon be here and in these parts they are adamant that Ballance, defiantly playing as deep in the crease as ever, should be part of them. Lyth’s excessive self-blame proved as much.Lyth’s departure to a defensive push at Jamie Porter soon after tea gave Will Buttleman the first of two simple catches – he also held Kohler-Cadmore’s attempted drive – to adorn his emergency uptake of the keeping gloves after Robbie White injured an ankle in training, so ending his loan spell from Middlesex; he came in on debut against Hampshire last season, too, when Adam Wheater was injured midway through a match.Michael Pepper damaged a finger against Kent last week, soon after returning from an appendix operation and Wheater, the senior man, is a long-term absentee with a badly-broken finger. They said it would be difficult replacing James Foster, but nobody said it would be downright dangerous.

The former India captain said there had been a lot of “baffling” decisions by the team management, including how Rayudu and Rahane had been handled.

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Jul-2019″Baffling.”That was the word former India captain Sunil Gavaskar used to express his disappointment with the Indian team management’s decisions ahead of, and during, their World Cup 2019 campaign. India had topped the league stage of the tournament, but lost by 18 runs against fourth-placed New Zealand in a thrilling semi-final.Matt Henry and Trent Boult had reduced India to 5 for 3 in their chase of 240, but there was some surprise about MS Dhoni’s batting position, with the most experienced member of the team coming in at No.7, with all of Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya sent in ahead of Dhoni.Dhoni didn’t walk out even when India became 24 for 4 in 10 overs, with Jimmy Neesham taking a spectacular one-handed catch to send back Karthik. The general expectation was that the situation was ideal for Dhoni’s experience and calm, but it was Pandya who came out to join Pant.Both young players put their heads down in a 47-run stand for the fifth wicket, playing with confidence and composure. However, Pant went for the slog-sweep against Mitchell Santner, with the bowler having built up pressure through tight bowling, and was caught at deep midwicket. Pandya was out to a similar shot, as the asking rate mounted.Gavaskar felt that Dhoni should have been the one to join Pant when the fourth wicket fell, since he could have settled any nerves that Pant, as a rookie, might have felt.”At that stage (24 for 4) you did not need two players playing in the same mould,” Gavaskar told on Thursday, the day after India’s defeat. “Both (Pant and Pandya) are attacking players. It could have been an MS Dhoni coming in at this stage and talking to Rishabh every second delivery.”He would have assessed from the non-striker’s end what exactly Rishabh Pant is feeling: is he getting a little impatient? You have sent two people whose natural game is to go bang-bang, and at that stage, with the ball doing all kinds of things and the pressure being there, four wickets gone – you wanted somebody to hang in there. That was baffling.”When India’s captain Virat Kohli was asked why Dhoni walked in at No. 7, the lowest he has batted in the tournament, he said the role Dhoni had been given some games into the tournament was to be there at the end. “Well, he’s been given that role after the first few games of being in a situation where he can, if the situation’s bad, control one end, like he did today,” Kohli said. “Or if there is a scenario where there are six or seven overs left, he can go and strike.”Gavaskar pointed to Ambati Rayudu as one batsman who would have had the ability and experience to handle the situation following the top order collapse. Rayudu had been on the list of standbys for India’s World Cup squad, but wasn’t called up despite two men being rendered unavailable through injuries, following which he announced his retirement from all cricket.Rayudu had batted 14 times at No.4 since his return to the Indian ODI squad last year in the Asia Cup, but he wasn’t called up to the team, with Pant flown in when Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out and Mayank Agarwal included when Vijay Shankar had to exit.”Let’s face, there have been a lot of baffling decisions over the last couple of years. Ambati Rayudu for example – he should have been brought here,” Gavaskar said. “Why and how can you explain to me you bring in a Mayank Agarwal? He hasn’t played a single ODI as yet. He just came before the Sri Lanka game, the last league game, (so) you want to him to make his debut in a semifinals or a final in case a slot was open? Why not bring in an Ambati Rayudu, who is your standby? Very disappointing to see what happened yesterday.”VVS Laxman, too, was critical of the selectors and the Indian team management for preferring Vijay Shankar over Rayudu in the original squad. “Yes, Vijay Shankar can contribute with the ball (too), but what about the experience the Indian middle order required?” Laxman said. “Who is that batsman at No. 4? It has been musical chairs: 13 players have been tried and tested, but they have not been given enough opportunities. In a semi-final ultimately, those kind of decisions will affect the team, which it did.”MS Dhoni smashed a six late into the chase•AFP

Gavaskar said the Indian fans deserved answers to some of the rationale behind the decision-making. “Last year you say we found our No. 4,” he said, referring to when Kohli had anointed Rayudu as the man to fill that spot. “So what happens to that No. 4? He is now left out of the original squad. Then when you have the opportunity when Vijay Shankar gets unfortunately injured, you bring somebody else in. This is something nobody can understand. The Indian public is entitled to answers – what is the thinking behind this (selections).”It is not the selection committee’s decision. It is the team management which has been asking these things. We are not saying you are wrong but at the moment what we are seeing didn’t work out, so we need to know.”Gavaskar said even someone like Ajinkya Rahane could have been an option at No.4, given his sound technique. Rahane had been tried at that position earlier, but was dropped, and Gavaskar felt the batsman was given confusing messages.”You have tried Ajinkya Rahane. He was your middle order batsman for such a long time. Suddenly you are only going to consider him as an opening batsman because in the middle overs he is not a finisher, he does not take runs, whatever, whatever excuses we heard,” Gavaskar said.”In those conditions in Manchester, what did you need? Somebody with technique. Somebody who could have been around to see that period off and then eventually leave the field open for a Hardik Pandya or even a MS Dhoni.”

Plus Chris Green’s jet-setting T20 career continues, and how Bermuda’s call could prove costly for Sussex

Matt Roller12-Aug-2019The Blast has enjoyed a considerable uplift from England’s World Cup-winning campaign with the competition poised to reach 1 million spectators for the first time (David Hopps writes).Hopes that the 1 million mark could be breached have been dashed before, but with nearly 900,000 sales achieved heading into last weekend’s games, it appears that only a continuation of recent bad weather could stop the target being reached.With the ECB’s emphasis increasingly turning to the launch of The Hundred in 2020, there were fears that the Blast could suffer as a result – and until England won the World Cup for the first time in mid-July the tournament had been matching, but not exceeding, comparable sales in 2018. All that has changed, leaving total ground sales now 14% ahead of the same time last year.London remains the main engine of Blast ticket sales with Surrey and Middlesex responsible for more than 20% of purchases. But the attraction of the Blast is growing in Hove, where Sussex, who went into the weekend games top of South Group, are packing them in with comparable success to two other non-Test grounds, Somerset and Essex.Lancashire, who head the table in the North, are also enjoying their most successful Blast season ever as they have become the best-attended county outside London.***Tom Abell is down on one knee to drive•Getty Images

In the excitement at Taunton on Saturday over Tom Banton’s maiden T20 hundred – another eye-catching innings that will surely propel him into England’s T20 side sooner rather than later – another crucial component in Somerset’s attempts to win the Blast, and with it keep their hopes of a treble alive, gained less attention.Tom Abell’s 63 from 33 balls, including a series of street-smart deflections past the wicketkeeper was another plucky innings from Somerset’s captain, but it was a surprise to discover that the innings put him into the top three in this season’s Blast strike rates.Abell awoke on Sunday morning to the news that he is scoring at 172.2 runs per hundred balls with only AB de Villiers (191.7) and Cameron Delport (180.6) above him (with a minimum of 200 runs scored). A little bloke who packs quite a punch, clearly.***Colin Ackermann could be forgiven a slightly bemused expression as he claimed the most successful global analysis in Twenty20 history.Ackermann, appointed Leicestershire’s Blast captain this season, exploited rare turn in the pitch at Grace Road to return 7 for 18 from his four overs of offspin, figures made all the more astounding for the fact he is primarily a batsman.Searching for an explanation for his success, he offered the thought that he had worked hard on his bowling over the English winter, which he spent playing for Warriors in his native South Africa, and had taken full advantage of the advice of former Test offspinner Simon Harmer, a team-mate at Warriors.That improvement was signalled when he picked up a maiden five-wicket return in first-class cricket in Leicestershire’s first Championship match of this season, a win against Sussex at Hove.But it’s fair to say that Warriors did not recognise they might be on to a good thing. Search his record in all competitions between October and March for the Warriors between October 2018 and March 2019 and there is not a wicket in sight.***Chris Green was handed the captaincy of Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL•Randy Brooks – CPL T20 / Getty

Birmingham Bears swooped quickly to sign Chris Green to replace the injured Ashton Agar, with Paul Farbrace telling Sky he had been working night and day to find a last-minute replacement (Matt Roller writes).Green is a traditionalist’s worst nightmare of a cricketer. At 25, he is yet to make his first-class debut, though counts Lahore Qalandars, Guyana Amazon Warriors, and Toronto Nationals among his clubs.And he took the freelance lifestyle to the next level last week. After losing the Global T20 eliminator to Winnipeg Hawks on Thursday afternoon in controversial circumstances – the game was called off early due to bad light, and Green’s side lost on DLS – he got a lift to the airport to get on the 11.19pm flight from Toronto to Heathrow.That meant he arrived at 11.05am in the UK, and drove up to Birmingham just in time to meet his new team-mates and have a quick warm-up before Friday night’s game against Nottinghamshire, which started around 18 hours after his previous game – on a different continent, remember – had finished.After seven games for Birmingham, Green will fly straight to the Caribbean Premier League to make his Guyana return. In a blow for fans of nominative determinism, his carbon footprint is racking up.***On the subject of Birmingham, it was unthinkable last year that Ed Pollock – then a world-record holder for his pinch-hitting exploits – would be kept out of the team due to anything other than injury, but he found himself dropped four games into the Blast after a slow start to the competition.While his side was capitulating against Ackermann, Pollock was sat at home after hitting a 39-ball 100 for Warwickshire’s 2nd XI against Durham, and would have been forgiven for wondering why he had been omitted.His situation demonstrates the difficulties of the role he was given – to score at a 200 strike rate from the word go. It is one that comes with a high floor and a low ceiling, and one which requires a team which will stick with you during the rough times. But as long as cricketing orthodoxy – which comes down hard on those who get out playing attacking shots – prevails ahead of new-age T20 thinking, the Pollocks of the world will be up against it.***Delray Rawlins gets low to sweep•Getty Images

Sussex are expected to be without Delray Rawlins for four of their remaining games after the explosive middle-order batsman was picked in Bermuda’s squad for the ICC Americas T20 World Cup Qualifier.While the club is yet to comment publicly, the Bermudian reported that after much wrangling and negotiation, the national team have secured Rawlins’ service for the tournament.Rawlins’ opportunities with the bat have been limited this season – largely due to Sussex’s imposing top order facing so many balls between them – but he is striking at 160.97, and hit a vital 35 not out off 17 balls to see off Gloucestershire at Bristol: he may yet be a big miss.***Any disappointment Kent officials may have felt after their mauling by Somerset on Saturday evening will fade rapidly should their county qualify for Finals Day on September 21 (Paul Edwards writes).The likelihood of that happening has been increased by the return to fitness of skipper Sam Billings, who dislocated his shoulder 80 minutes into his first appearance for his team in April but played a full part in Saturday’s game, albeit he will not be keeping wicket this season.Many of Kent’s performances have already mocked the predictions made about the county in March but the addition of Billings’ clean hitting to a batting line-up which already includes Mohammad Nabi and Alex Blake increases Kent’s chances of making the last eight and even securing a home semi-final.”Sam has come back quicker than we thought he would and he’s worked very hard to get himself in the frame,” the Kent coach, Matt Walker, said. “We’re bringing back a very fine international T20 cricketer but also one of the best one-day captains in the country. It is almost like signing an overseas player.”We’ve coped very well to win six games without him but his return gives a real lift to the dressing room.”

Carlos Brathwaite’s Patriots suffered their third defeat of the season

The Report by Sreshth Shah12-Sep-2019Barbados Tridents completed their first win of CPL 2019 after youngsters Leniko Boucher and Sandeep Lamichhane contributed with bat and ball respectively to hand the visitors a 18-run win over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. In the first innings, Boucher was assisted by JP Duminy’s 18-ball 43 to lift Tridents to 186, while Lamichhane was ably supported by captain Jason Holder and USA’s Hayden Walsh Jr. in the second.Patriots’ Laurie Evans struck a quickfire 64 to keep the hosts in the hunt till the 12th over, but the team fell away after they lost four middle-order wickets in fifteen deliveries. Barring Evans, the Patriots batting performance was so poor that their second-highest run-scorer was their No. 11. Patriots eventually finished well short, for their third defeat of the season.A wicketkeeper-batsman with a familiar surnamePlaying only his second T20 game, right-handed batsman Boucher walked in after opener Alex Hales’ dismissal in the fifth over. Trying to guide a Rayad Emrit delivery to third man, Hales could only find the keeper. Early signs showed that the pitch was similar to the one where 483 runs were scored on Wednesday.The other opener Johnson Charles, however, having a difficult time rotating the strike at that point, and it was the 21-year old Boucher who sunk anchor in the post-Powerplay period. The first signs of Boucher’s dominance came in the seventh over, when he confidently skipped down the ground to lift Emrit over his head. Boucher then made the most of a dropped chance to the keeper in the ninth over by upping the tempo off left-arm spinner Fabian Allen. He began the 13th over with a six and a four off Allen, and in Charles’ company lifted Tridents into triple figures.Charles, sluggish right up that point, moved from 38 off 39 balls to 51 in 41 on the back of two sixes as they got past hundred. It was legspinner Usama Mir who bore the brunt, but he took revenge two balls later when Charles holed out to deep midwicket.That brought in JP Duminy at No. 4, and the South African swiftly found his timing by pulling his second ball over long-on. Two balls later, Boucher moved to 48 with a six over long-on to end the 16th over. Off the next ball, he brought up his fifty in 40 deliveries.Tridents’ triple-over blitzA tidy three-run 17th over from Emrit seemed to have stifled Tridents’ run-scoring, but the last three overs was where the batting team displayed the advantage of having so many wickets in hand. With a license to smash, Duminy and Boucher struck 51 runs in the last 18 balls to take Tridents to 186 for 2. The unbeaten stand of 73 in 36 balls saw Boucher finish on 62 and Duminy on an 18-ball 43.After Tridents finished the first innings with such a flurry, Emrit – standing in as captain while Brathwaite was off the field nursing a knock – called the Patriots in for a huddle before walking off the field, perhaps to instill the same beliefs they had the night before when they chased 243.Evans sizzles, others not so muchThe chase began with Duminy’s spin, and Patriots opener Evin Lewis enjoyed the ball coming into him from around the wicket. He swept Duminy twice for fours in the first over to give the hosts early momentum, but Tridents negated that advantage when the other opener Devon Thomas edged Holder to Boucher next over. Lewis ended the second over with a square cut for four, but Holder dismissed him next over when he sliced an attempted drive to cover.At 28 for 2, Patriots were in trouble, but Evans’ shot-making didn’t make it appear so. He found his footing by driving left-arm seamer Josh Lalor for four and following it up with a punched shot over midwicket two balls later. Entering the game, Evans had gone past thirty in seven of his last eight T20 games, and he proceeded to do the same once more by making full use of a dropped chance on 21. Evans was especially brutal towards the on-side, taking on Walsh Jr. for consecutive fours, before reaching his 21st T20 fifty in the tenth over. By then, No. 4 Jason Mohammad was already out and Evans was building a partnership with No. 5 Shamarh Brooks, and with eight overs to go, Patriots needed 90 off 48 with seven wickets in hand.Lamichhane triggers Patriots’ downward spiralBut the final eight overs began poorly for Patriots. Brooks tried to take Lamichhane on the first ball of the 13th over, but he sliced a catch to Nurse at extra cover, who had to run back and put in a dive to complete a catch. Five balls later came the bigger blow when Evans looked to paddle-sweep the legspinner away, only to top-edge one to short fine leg. Evans fell for a 41-ball 64, but his dismissal meant there were two new batsmen at the crease with the run-rate continuously rising.Walsh Jr. then prised out the dangerous Allen after the batsman failed to pick a slider that was aimed for the stumps, and when Lamichhane returned for his final over of the night, he trapped Brathwaite with a googly to send Patriots reeling at 106 for 7. Two balls later, the skies opened up, and the teams went off for close to 45 minutes with Patriots still needing 80 off 5.1 overs.When the teams returned, Walsh Jr. claimed his second wicket by removing Usama Mir. No. 9 Emrit briefly entertained, but he too fell trying to clear the long-on boundary in the 17th over. No. 11 Dominic Drakes brought some respectability to the Patriots total by striking three sixes and three fours to score the highest-ever T20 score for a No. 11 batsman, a 34 off 14 balls. His last-wicket partnership of 49 with No. 10 Alzarri Joseph ensured Patriots’ net run-rate took a much lesser hit than it could’ve at one point.

The seamer’s third-over blitz helped PNG skittle Bermuda out for 89

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Dubai19-Oct-2019When Bermuda last played Papua New Guinea at ICC Academy Oval 1 in 2012, Janeiro Tucker produced a hat-trick of sixes in the final over off PNG captain Rarua Dikana to deliver a stunning five-wicket win. At the same venue on Saturday morning, it was PNG who stunned Bermuda with a hat-trick of their own as Norman Vanua’s third-over blitz set up a ten-wicket mauling.Bermuda were already struggling at 11 for 2 in two overs after the left-arm new-ball pace-spin duo of Nosaina Pokana and Jason Kila removed Okera Bascome and the 44-year-old Tucker, back for one last hurrah after first retiring in May 2018. Vanua was brought on in the third over in place of Pokana as captain Assad Vala rotated his bowlers rapidly to keep Bermuda off balance, and it worked to maximum effect in this particular sequence.Vanua struck the first blow in his hat-trick maiden off the fourth ball, bowling captain Dion Stovell, who was late driving a full length ball. Kamau Leverock then fished at a good-length ball outside off to edge behind for the second before Deunte Darrell was pinned on the toe with a yorker, making it 11 for 5. Sussex star Delray Rawlins could only watch helplessly from the non-striker’s end.Rawlins did his best to counter-attack, driving and pulling his way to a series of boundaries off Vanua in the fifth over to hit him out of the attack. But his stay was ended by Vala, who pierced through to bowl him for 25 and, at 43 for 6 in the eighth over, Bermuda faced an uphill battle to last the full 20 overs. Charles Amini, Damien Ravu and Pokana methodically worked their way through the rest of the order to wrap up the innings in just 17.2 overs.PNG attacked in the Powerplay, in pursuit of an early net run-rate boost. Vala and Tony Ura swept and drove their way to 47 for 0 after the first six. Vala eventually brought up a 32-ball half-century in the tenth with a four flicked over wide long-on, his seventh to go with one six, before he ended the match pinching a two to long-on with 58 balls to spare.

Former England batsman took club to fourth in Division Two while in interim role

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Nov-2019Matthew Maynard, the former England batsman, has been appointed as Glamorgan’s permanent head coach after spending the 2019 season in the job on an interim basis.Maynard led the side to fourth in Division Two of the County Championship last season – their joint-highest finish since 2010 – and has been rewarded with a three-year deal.He first re-joined the club at the end of 2017 in a batting consultant role, having previously been head coach from 2008 to 2010. His first spell in charge ended acrimoniously, as he resigned branding his position “untenable” following the appointment of Alviro Petersen as captain, which was made without him being consulted.He later enjoyed a successful spell at Titans in South Africa, where he won the domestic four-day competition and the Ram Slam in 2013. He then spent three years at Somerset as director of cricket before re-joining Glamorgan.Maynard said it was “very exciting to be able to carry on the work we started this year”.”I love being a part of this club and I have enjoyed working with the players and coaching staff throughout the season,” he said. “There is lots of talent within the squad and we have a good mix of young players and experienced heads.”Despite their strong showing in the Championship, Glamorgan struggled in both white-ball competitions last season. They finish sixth in the South Group of the One-Day Cup, and dead last in the Blast, registering their only win in the season’s final game.”We saw a big improvement in the County Championship and Royal London One-Day Cup,” Maynard said, “but it’s important we continue that upward trajectory and take our form across into the Vitality Blast next season.”Mark Wallace, the club’s director of cricket, said: “We are delighted to have secured Matt as our permanent head coach.”After conducting a thorough review of the season with players, coaches and staff, it became apparent Matt should continue his role as head coach. The side showed a great deal of improvement across two of the three formats under his leadership and came very close to gaining promotion in the County Championship.”Matt is a highly experienced head coach who has developed his skills around the world and possesses an intimate knowledge of the club and how we are structured. He has developed a very good rapport with the players since his return and helped to improve their individual games and mindsets.”

The allrounder, who has a history of back problems, has been diagnosed with the early stages of a stress fracture

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2019Cameron Green, the Western Australia allrounder who has been tipped to soon feature for Australia, will be unable to bowl for the foreseeable future after suffering a stress fracture of his back.Green, 20, has been lauded by Ricky Ponting and compared to Andrew Flintoff after starring for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield with two centuries this season but has been unable to bowl in the last two matches and that will now extend at least throughout the Big Bash.ALSO READ: Cameron Green dampens hype around Australia prospects”Follow up scans this week on Cameron’s lower back have revealed the early stages of a lumbar stress fracture,” Western Australia sports science medicine manager, Nick Jones, said. “This will require an extended period of rest from bowling to ensure the fracture heals adequately.”No timeframe has been set for Cameron to return to bowling, however we are not expecting him to be bowling during the BBL. He will continue to be available for selection as a batter.”Speaking earlier this week, Green had been confident that his current back soreness had not been serious and viewed himself as a genuine allrounder in the future.”Coming through as a junior I’ve always seen myself as a genuine allrounder,” he said. “At times for WA, I was definitely a bowling allrounder, batting nine or ten and not scoring too many runs. So I’m pretty happy I’m getting a couple of runs out the way but in the future, I’d like to be a genuine allrounder.”Trevor Hohns, the Australia selection chairman, said that picking someone at a young age would not be an issue but Green’s back problem would be monitored.”I don’t have an issue with his age, it’s more about whether his body can cope and what he can do bowling, particularly in the allrounder category,” Hohns said. “We know he’s a very good bat, he is a fine up-and-coming young player.”

Fast bowler was synonymous with England’s famous victory at Headingley in 1981

Andrew Miller04-Dec-2019A bit like the relationship with one’s parents, or the pictures on the walls in your childhood home, some memories are set in stone before you’re even aware of who or what they represent.Take the Headingley Test of 1981. How many people aged 40 or under can say for certain when they first witnessed footage of England’s most storied victory? For this onlooker, it was almost certainly on a rainy afternoon at school in the mid-1980s, and undoubtedly before I was even aware that cricket was the sport that would seize control of my formative years.But by the time cricket’s rules and reputations had begun to take root in my conscience, the towering significance of Bob Willis, England’s mightiest of fast bowlers, was already one of the most fundamental prisms through which I and so many others understood and loved the game – thanks to countless replays, countless newspaper and magazine reports, and countless anecdotes that bounced off the walls that connect the myth to the legend.Willis’s death today, aged 70, is a shattering and irreparable loss to the sport.Willis was a grandee of English cricket in the most absolute sense. Iconic matchwinner, fast-bowling survivor, long-term leading England wicket-taker, Test captain and later manager, and ultimately a titan among pundits – best remembered in recent times for his pantomime savagery on Sky Sports’ Debate and Verdict shows, but a king-pin commentator in his 1990s heyday too. Try to imagine, for instance, the defining moment of the world-record 375 at Antigua in 1994 without “Brian Charles Lara of Trinidad and Tobago” ringing through your mind.But he was too a gentle, knowledgeable, and deeply humorous soul – a man who signalled his independence of thought as a teenager by adding the middle name “Dylan” by deed poll in tribute to Bob of that parish – and a man whose love of the game was absolute, in spite of that distinctive nasal voice and a deadpan delivery that could be all too easy to misconstrue, not least for the players who followed in his wake in the Test team.By his own admission, Nasser Hussain was one of those who initially took Willis’s bombast too literally, and upon scoring an ODI century against India at Lord’s in 2002, he infamously waved three fingers in the direction of the commentary box – one each for Ian Botham, Jonathan Agnew … and Willis, who had been particularly forthright about his place at No.3 in the batting order.”He made you cross because he was so forthright with his opinions and I would go back to my room as a player wondering if he was going to crucify me on TV,” Hussain wrote in his own tribute in The Daily Mail. “But it wasn’t his job to get to know players and he didn’t go out of the way to be nice about them yet when we did all meet him we quickly realised he was one of the good guys.”And for the even younger generations of England player, who had grown up with Willis’s tyrannical commentary and saw him only as a fire-breathing beast, it wasn’t until a series of meetings were brokered by Andrew Strauss in 2015, during his early months as England’s director of cricket, that Willis’s generosity of spirit was able to cut through.It just so happened that his dinner with England’s bowlers came on the eve of that summer’s Trent Bridge Test, and having sampled his choice of wine (Willis was quite the connoisseur – he even launched his own label in conjunction with Botham) Stuart Broad emerged with the opinion that Willis wasn’t “as scary as he had thought”.Whether that had any impact on Broad’s subsequent 8 for 15, who knows, but by the end of that same Test victory, Joe Root (face hidden beneath an Albert Einstein mask) was able to send up Willis’s style in a memorable dressing-room interview on Sky Sports – one that led Willis, teeth baring but humour shining through, to retort that “when your little purple patch comes to an end… I’ll have you back in the dock!”When it came to Willis’s live commentary, Hussain et al probably had a point – as a viewer, let alone as a player, and particularly through the night on another Ashes tour drubbing, the misery of his intonation had a tendency to overshadow whatever point he had been making, however valid. As a post-match pundit, however, with a licence to channel that long run of his playing days into his off-field excoriations, Willis was for a time unequalled.Quite apart from making for compelling television, he rarely missed his mark – whether it was incompetent umpires, shambolic batting or administrative ennui in the high towers of the ECB. It was a fitting tribute to his second innings as a broadcaster that his catchphrase “well Charles…” began trending on Twitter shortly after news of his death was made public – though the man himself would doubtless have sighed wearily at that fact, and mock-grumbled that nobody seemed to have remembered the 325 Test wickets with which he’d truly made his name.Bob Willis took 325 Test wickets without ever getting a ten-wicket haul•Adrian Murrell/Getty Images

Well, most people with any affinity for Test cricket remember eight of those wickets, no question. For nothing compared to Headingley for the dent it left in the brains of a certain generation – and if it was Willis’s misfortune that the match will forever be synonymous with Botham’s “village-green slogging”, as Mike Brearley later dubbed it, then no-one who witnessed his role, in the flesh or otherwise, will be in any doubt that the truest quality of that contest came in its savage denouement.As legend has it, Willis almost failed to make it to the contest at all. He had missed Warwickshire’s county match the previous week due to a bout of flu, and was dropped from the squad in favour of Mike Hendrick – only for that invitation to be intercepted in the post after Willis had explained he’d been saving his energy for the Test match, rather than merely lying low on his sickbed. In spite of his hefty haul of 899 first-class wickets in 308 matches, Willis could be a reluctant county performer – the legacy of his twin knee operations in 1975 and the daily agonies that his gangly frame had to go through to perform at the very highest level.But even after his Headingley reprieve, Willis had seemed off-colour. He went wicketless in Australia’s first-innings as Australia’s grip on the Ashes tightened, then struggled for rhythm in an abortive opening spell in the second, as John Dyson and Trevor Chappell eased along to 56 for 1, chasing 130.But then, Brearley made his legendary switch to the Kirkstall Lane End, and Willis clicked into his ultimate Berserker mode – eyes glazed over, fury focussed on a distant point way, way beyond the stance of Australia’s rapidly scattered batsmen. The lifter to Chappell, which snapped savagely into his upraised gloves before lobbing to Bob Taylor as the bewildered batsman scanned a full 180 degrees around his crease, was a declaration of war on a previously serene dressing room.ALSO READ: ‘That was abject, Charles, absolutely pathetic’ – Bob Willis’ best quipsThe moment of victory was every bit as iconic – Ray Bright’s middle stump demolished as Willis raised his arms in a robotic fist-pump and stormed for the pavilion before an ecstatic sea of fans could envelop him.And no less iconic, if a more niche search item on YouTube, was his laconically drawled critique of the media during his post-match interview with the BBC. Turning on a mildly startled Peter West, Willis railed against the need to mine “small-minded quotes from players under pressure for their stories” – his point being, of course, “what on earth do you need to speak to me for?”It certainly wasn’t an obvious means by which to audition for his second innings, but then Bob Willis was never one to take the conventional route.But he was right, of course, as he so often was. What on earth could a Willis soundbite possibly have added to the technicolor masterpiece that he and Botham had completed only moments earlier? His instincts served him well, for this was one England victory in which the deeds would do all the talking a team could ever need. Tonight, you can be sure that myriad generations of England cricket fans will be toasting that glory one more time, and this time with extra feeling.

The Hurricanes’ batting order came under scrutiny during a very slow phase which ultimately left them short of runs

Andrew McGlashan11-Jan-2020A powerful half-century from Alex Hales set the Sydney Thunder on their way to a victory which took them third in the table, but they needed the calm head of Alex Ross to carry them through a late wobble against the Hobart Hurricanes.Hales and Usman Khawaja added 96 for the first wicket but a series of poor shots kept the Hurricanes in the game until Ross, who was an off-season signing from the Adelaide Strikers, got the job done with four balls to spare.The Hurricanes’ batting tactics had again been curious as they left Ben McDermott and David Miller until late in the innings. McDermott and George Bailey, who gave the innings some life, added 64 in six overs while some handy late blows from Clive Rose pushed them over 160.Middle-order muddleIn the last couple of matches the Hurricanes have used Simon Milenko at No. 3 and it’s been a questionable tactic, particularly with how he played in this innings. He is known as a strong hitter, but plodded his way to 17 off 21 balls which did nothing except dig a hole for the innings after Caleb Jewell had provided some early impetus in the Hurricanes’ equal best powerplay of the season: 1 for 51. There was a 43-ball period from the end of the fifth over to early in the 13th – which included the whole stand between Milenko and Bailey – where the Hurricanes did not manage a boundary. When Chris Morris hit Milenko’s leg stump it was a good thing for the Hurricanes and one of those wickets where the opposition may ponder how wise it was to take it. McDermott, who is an Australia T20 player, did not come to the crease until the 12th over and then took time to get himself in. He struck impressively towards the end of the innings, but it is something the Hurricanes will have to look at.Bailey’s reminderIt was Australia’s new selector who broke the shackles when he struck back-to-back sixes off Arjun Nair in the 13th over. He then took consecutive boundaries off Chris Tremain and deposited Morris over long-on with a brilliant shot played off his back knee. It was his most substantial innings of his final season – Bailey, who ended his Sheffield Shield career in December, will retire when the Hurricanes’ campaign is over to take up his role alongside Trevor Hohns and Justin Langer. The innings carried him over 4000 T20 runs and was a reminder of what he has been capable of. The TV replays suggested he didn’t hit the one he was given out to, instead striking the ground.Perfect platformThe Thunder’s chase was quickly out of the blocks against some poor powerplay bowling. Qais Ahmad was given an early over – the fourth – with Hales taking the majority of the 18 runs from it as he hit strongly down the ground. By the end of the six overs the Thunder were cruising on 0 for 66. Hales went to a 28-ball fifty and the back of the chase had been broken. He was given a life on 51 when McDermott couldn’t get a glove on a stumping chance, but it didn’t cost too many as Hales picked out long-off to give the Hurricanes their first opening, although when he fell the Thunder needed 67 off 58 balls and it should have been much simpler than it became.A wobble, but a winKhawaja picked out deep square, where Nathan Ellis lost the ball before clinging on, and when the in-form Callum Ferguson was lbw the pressure started to mount. Morris appeared to have struck the telling blows when he swung Ellis for a four and a six in the 17th over but lazily popped a catch down to long-on in the next over to expose the lower order. However, Ross was in control and did what Morris couldn’t by depositing Rose into the stands to bring the requirement down to 10. Daniel Sams played an awful swipe to leave four needed off the final over and when Nair was able to give Ross the strike back he hammered Ellis through point.

It was New Zealand’s 100th victory in Test cricket

The Report by Sidharth Monga24-Feb-202015:32

Star Sports Match Point: Styris and Manjrekar on where India went wrong

The big boys of New Zealand fast bowling, Trent Boult and Tim Southee, did the business with the old ball to seal their 100th Test win, on the fourth morning at Basin Reserve. Twenty-eight of those wins have come in matches that Boult and Southee have played together. Their pin-point planning and execution made sure India’s resistance on the third evening didn’t count for much. Boult started the slide, and Southee burst through the opening to bowl India out for 191, setting New Zealand’s batsmen a target of just nine runs. It ended India’s seven-match winning streak, and New Zealand’s run of three losses.India began the day 39 behind with six wickets in hand and 15 overs to go the new ball, hoping to set New Zealand some sort of target, but Boult and Southee were excellent with the old ball. On a clear and still morning, which aids swing in Wellington, they switched from their bouncers plan to look for more traditional modes of dismissals. Boult looked to set Ajinkya Rahane up for the lbw, but the pitch didn’t have enough pace for that to succeed. So he went around the wicket to get one to seam away a touch. Rahane had to play the angle, but the movement away took his edge.Then Southee got to his work of setting up batsmen. First up Hanuma Vihari who had toughed it out for 76 balls before this over started. Southee began with a full outswinger that didn’t tempt Vihari. Then he got closer and fuller, drawing a loose shot from Vihari, but not getting the edge. With the third ball, he scrambled the seam to play with the scrambled mind of the batsman. The ball pitched outside off and jagged back in. Vihari still had the outswinger in mind, and was bowled.Southee did the same with R Ashwin, whom he had bowled with an outswinger, first ball, in the first innings. This time the outswinger pitched and nipped back in to trap Ashwin in front. All seven wickets till this point had fallen to these two bowlers, so both were on for five-fors.Boult could have sealed his when he drew a bat-pad from Ishant Sharma with what was the last ball of his spell, but Tom Latham shelled it at short leg. Boult was off to take a break before the new ball became available. Colin de Grandhomme soon drew the uppish drive from Sharma, but now Southee dropped him at short cover. The second drop, as it turned out, ended up helping him getting the five-for. Before the new ball, though, de Grandhomme managed to get through the defences of Sharma.With India only slightly in lead, Rishabh Pant had no choice but to go after the new ball. As he flicked one off the pads off Southee, Boult pulled off a smart catch at fine leg to make it a matter of time. And that matter of time was only three balls for Jasprit Bumrah, who guided Southee to second slip for a low catch to substitute fielder Daryl Mitchell.The man he was substituting for, Tom Blundell, came out to bat and help knock off the target, which was a positive sign after he spent the whole second innings off the field with a shoulder injury he suffered when fielding in India’s first.